The 2024 World Science and Technology Development Forum (WSTDF), organized by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), successfully concluded in Beijing recently.

Themed "Science and Technology for the Future," the forum embraced the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Guided by the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative, it aimed to establish consensus, share ideas and deepen cooperation among scientists, educators and entrepreneurs globally. The forum set its thematic issues through scientific concepts, harnessed global wisdom through concrete actions, fueled high-quality development with innovative ideas and constructed a platform for science and technology exchange. Additionally, it reinforced open, trust-based cooperation within the international scientific community, promoted broader international scientific and humanistic exchanges, sought solutions to sustainable development challenges and contributed insights and scientific and technological prowess to human civilization's advancement and future well-being.

The forum featured events at its main Beijing venue and three institutional international science and technology exchange activities, attended by more than 660 guests worldwide. The Beijing venue hosted six thematic sessions and three roundtable dialogues, interspersed with humanistic exchange activities. Over 350 delegates from 33 countries and regions participated, including 14 Nobel Prize, Turing Award and Lasker Award laureates, 27 heads of international scientific organizations, 41 domestic and foreign academicians and more than 200 experts and scholars from prestigious universities, research institutions and enterprises.

The thematic sessions centered on six key areas, each prefixed with "I," ranging from macro-level, forward-thinking global issues to exemplary international scientific and technological cooperation in specific fields. The topics included establishing a shared collaboration platform for the Sciences Decade through open science infrastructures (Infrastructures); offering a coupling mechanism for environmental-social harmony to promote human health and well-being (Interaction); accelerating interdisciplinary development for systematic solutions to achieve sustainable development (Interdisciplinary); promoting risk-aware sustainable development (Integration); fostering an international trust-based ecosystem through innovative AI governance (Intelligence); and integrating cross-boundary resources for innovative application scenarios to enhance the intelligent manufacturing industry (Innovation). These topics presented new methods and tools for guiding future human technological development.

The three roundtable dialogues focused on women's participation in science and technology, international mobility of scientific personnel and the role of mesoscience in advancing sustainable development goals. Global scientists gathered to share insights from their respective fields.

During the Beijing main venue activities, seven key outcomes were released, including IUPAC's 2024 Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry, the 2024 Outlook for the Top 10 Frontier Technology Trends in AI, Nurturing New Quality Productive Forces through Ocean Negative Carbon Emissions, Fostering Open Science Infrastructure Collaboration: A Vision for the Sciences Decade, Empowering and Elevating the Voice of Early- and Mid-Career Researchers in International Science and Global Policy Processes (EMCR Project), Initiative to Facilitate International Mobility for Scientists, and Chinese Society of Engineers (CSE) and ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations (AFEO) Initiative on Boosting Engineering Capacity Building. These outcomes aligned with the forum's theme, underscored international organizations' positive role and demonstrated deep cooperation among the scientific, educational, and business communities in exploring frontiers and fostering sustainable development.

Since its inception by CAST in 2019, the WSTDF has emerged as an open platform for exchanges and consensus-building among scientists, educators, and entrepreneurs worldwide. It has also become a hub for advocating and promoting trust, cooperation, and development within the international scientific community.

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